Monday 31 December 2018

2018 Wildlife Review: Birds

A total of 186 species were recorded on site this year with 33 species confirmed breeding including Water Rail, Little Grebe and at least two pairs of Cirl Bunting.

Although 2018 wasn't without its highlights this tally is below average being exceeded in eight of the last ten years. The most significant weather events came in March with two unseasonal cold weather movements and November when the continual beach erosion through the year was hastened by an overnight storm that finally washed away the Dune Path.

New site maxima were recorded for Great-crested Grebe (132 in Jan), Lapwing (9180 in Mar), Golden Plover (3154 in Mar), Mediterranean Gull (96 in Jul), House Sparrow (162 in Sep), Jackdaw (1304 in Oct) and Pheasant (14 in Oct - an unwanted sign of increased local releases).

Unfortunately counts of many other species are going in the opposite direction with many migrants having a bad year and numbers of wintering birds in continuing decline. The second winter period especially saw low numbers of wildfowl and waders.

2018 was also the first ever blank year for wintering Slavonian Grebe, a qualifying species for the Exe Estuary Special Protection Area. Herbert, now in its 12th year of residence, was the only Slavonian Grebe recorded this year.


Herbert June 2009 - James Packer

Migrants were in low numbers with just three Cuckoo, 34 Sand Martin, eight Garden Warbler, six Tree Pipit, five Spotted Flycatcher and no Lesser Whitethroat. Other omissions from the year list included Coot, Greylag Goose, Jack Snipe, Red-necked Grebe, Dartford Warbler and Spotted Redshank.

Rarities included the 2nd & 3rd records of Cattle Egret, 4th record of Red-crested Pochard, 4th & 5th records of Caspian Gull, 8-15th Great White Egret, 8th Rose-coloured Starling and 9th Barred & Cetti's Warbler. The regular wintering Bonaparte's Gull was present at the start of the year but failed to return for its 6th winter.


Bonaparte's Gull Oct 2014 - Simon Thurgood
January

A total of 73 species were recorded on the 1st, the highlights being a single Pomarine Skua in wet & windy conditions and the wintering Long-tailed Duck. Also offshore during the month average numbers of Red & Great Northern Diver, very few Common Scoter but good numbers of Great-crested Grebe with a site record count peaking at 132, other grebes were however noticeable by their absence. The wintering Cetti's Warbler reappeared early in the month with a couple of Firecrest moving between the Warren and mainland gardens.

Long-tailed Duck - Alan Keatley

The first rarity of the year was a German ringed first winter Caspian Gull on 17th, the fourth Warren record. This was the first of a good run of larids with immature Iceland & Glaucous Gull on consecutive days and the first appearance of the Bonaparte's Gull on site since November.

Caspian Gull - Lee Collins

Late in the month a Ruff was the first winter record since 2002 and a flock of 42 Golden Plover in the Bight was similarly unusual.

February

The highlight of the month was a successful Oystercatcher ringing session. More information here but by the end of the year the colour ringed birds had a recovery rate around 95%. A second Caspian Gull was seen midmonth and the wintering Long-tailed Duck, Cetti's Warbler and Firecrest remained throughout.

Oystercatcher (V8) - Lee Collins
More information on the project can be found here

March

The month was characterised by two cold weather events. The Beast from the East on the 1st saw record movements overhead but also a lot of visible casualties.

Greenland Lake 01/03/2018

Lapwing

A sad total of 109 Lapwing, 34 Golden Plover & single Redshank, Little Egret and Avocet were found dead onsite. Overhead there were site record counts of 9180 Lapwing and 3154 Golden Plover, amazingly twice as many Golden Plover flew west in one afternoon than the combined total of all previous records for the Warren. Other cold weather refugees included two Avocet on the Main Pond, four-fig counts of Redwing & Fieldfare, six Woodcock, the first since 2013, and three Woodlark, the first since 2014.

Woodlark - Luke Harman

Before mid month two more Iceland and Glaucous Gull were recorded and the first Sandwich Tern, Wheatear, Sand Martin and Swallow arrived. However Spring was put on hold on the 18th when more snow arrived and brought another big Golden Plover movement overhead along with Fieldfare & Redwing, two Woodlark and a Yellowhammer.

Glaucous Gull - Dave Jewell

 

Later in the month the earliest ever Little Ringed Plover arrived on 21st along with the only Spoonbill of the year, the eighth Great White Egret for the Warren flew upriver on 24th and the 25th saw over 1100 Chaffinch and Brambling head NE, a more typical autumn movement. The month closed with new Iceland and Glaucous Gulls.

Iceland Gull - Lee Collins

April

Migration remained slow to get going, but there was a steady arrival through the month. The majority of expected summer species put in an appearance with a lingering Osprey, a Red Kite, two Hobby, two Grasshopper Warbler, appearing in the middle of their expected narrow window on 20th, two Redstart and a Whinchat. Other migrants included a Puffin on 15th, Merlin, Purple Sandpiper and Ruff on 17th and two pulses of Pale-bellied Brent Geese, peaking at 230 on 27th. The only rarity during the month was a drake Garganey on the Main Pond on 12th.

Garganey - Lee Collins

May

The 2nd saw a brief Black Guillemot offshore, the 11th site record and the first since 2013. Other highlights on the sea included a Balearic Shearwater on 2nd and a Black-throated Diver on 11th. However it was otherwise a quiet month offshore with paragliders often outnumbering Sandwich Tern, the monthly peak of 30 was the lowest ever. A handful of Arctic and Little Tern were recorded but it was another blank Spring for Roseate Tern. These low numbers presumably influenced the poor Skua showing with just single Pomarine and six Arctic Skua.

The highlight was unexpected due to the lack of migrants, a male Red-backed Shrike on the 8th. Only the third record in the last 20 years and the first male since 1989.

Red-backed Shrike - Lee Collins

Other notable records included a Sedge Warbler holding territory for the first time since 1990, 10 Red Kite on 13th, the only Spring Spotted Flycatcher on 26th and a Rose-coloured Starling on 31st, the eighth site record but the first in Spring.

 Rose-coloured Starling - Simon Thurgood

June

A quiet month with a few late migrants including a Willow Warbler on the 3rd and an Osprey on the 14th; a Cuckoo on the same date was however probably already heading south along with a Siskin on 17th and the first returning Willow Warbler on 30th.

Stonechat - Alan Keatley

Other records included a summer plumaged Great Northern Diver mid month, two summering Eider and the resident Slavonian Grebe.

July

The start of the month saw more autumn migrants in the shape of a Green Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover on the 4th with the overdue first Roseate Tern of the year the next day. In a poor year for this species the only other record was on the 21st. Numbers of gulls, terns and waders increased through the month with the first of six juvenile Yellow-legged Gull on 9th and a record passage of Mediterranean Gull later in the month peaking at a minimum of 96 on 28th. Ringing recoveries showed many of these came from breeding colonies in the Solent.

Mediterranean Gull - Dave Jewell

Other records included the first Garden Warbler of the year on the 19th, a Nuthatch on 26-27th, an Osprey on 28th and 10 Storm Petrel and a Sooty Shearwater, both firsts for the year, next day.

August

The first Marsh Harrier of the year, a juvenile, passed through on the 3rd, an elusive Pied Flycatcher arrived the next day and become the first ever to remain overnight. The only Treecreeper of the year arrived the same day, remaining for three weeks.

Wader passage included three adult Curlew Sandpiper, a Little Stint, at least three Little Ringed Plover and two Ruff, with at least five Yellow-legged Gull, nine Little and two Black Tern during the month.

 Little Tern - Alan Keatley

Black Tern - Lee Collins

Passage offshore included a Sooty Shearwater on the 12th, the same day as four large shearwater sp and the peak count of 19 Balearic Shearwater. Skua numbers remained low with just 13 Arctic and four Pomarine during the month.

The month's highlight was seen from Exmouth when a flock of seven Cattle Egret flew over early morning on the 19th, only the second site record. Other notable records included a Great White Egret that flew east distantly offshore on the 9th, later seen at several sites in Dorset, an unseasonal Velvet Scoter flew through the bay on the 26th and the first returning group of seven Wigeon were in the estuary the next day. A Citrine Wagtail was briefly in the Bight on the 23rd, potentially the first for the Warren, but remained as 'one that got away'.

September

The highlight was an elusive Wryneck on 8-16th but it was generally a quiet month for migrants. Numbers included a good total of nine Whinchat with four Spotted Flycatcher, two Garden Warbler, two Redstart and a Grasshopper Warbler.

 Whinchat - Alan Keatley

Spotted Flycatcher - Simon Thurgood

Other records included a Short-eared Owl on the 27th, a juvenile Marsh Harrier the next day and totals of 18 Balearic Shearwater, a flock of 11 Avocet, three Curlew Sandpiper, three Little Gull, just two Arctic Skua, two Storm Petrel and two Black Tern.

October

Due to Climate Change, many of the month's highlights may turn out to be regular visitors in future. The fourth site record of Red-crested Pochard was in the estuary with Wigeon on the 9th, it was followed by the ninth site record of Cetti's Warbler on the 17th, six Great White Egret over on the 18th, five of which had been tracked west through Dorset, and the third site record of Cattle Egret, a flock of at least four the next day. A juvenile Barred Warbler on the 18th was the ninth site record, but is a species getting rarer, this was the first since 2011.

Barred Warbler - Luke Harman

Other scarcities included two Black-throated Diver early in the month, only one Yellow-browed Warbler on the 17th, a White-fronted Goose over next day, the only Black-necked Grebe of the year on 29th and four Barnacle Geese on 30th.

Visible migration highlights included a new site record of 1304 Jackdaw west on 20th, a Crossbill on 22nd and a Yellowhammer on 18th with two the next day. A Merlin lingered for a few days late month and a total of four Short-eared Owl were recorded.

Merlin - Lee Collins

Peak vis mig counts included 11,560 Wood Pigeon west on 27th, 315 Skylark on 18th, 225 Goldfinch on the same day, just 80 Chaffinch on 31st, 63 Greenfinch on 23rd and 28 Siskin on the 3rd. Monthly tallies included 18 Redpoll and just four Brambling.

November

The main news was the loss of the path along the Dune Ridge following storms overnight on the 6-7th, this has reduced access to the hide and Warren Point and remains a continuing issue.


Although often considered one of the best periods of the year, the early autumn reduced the amount of passage during the month. The only Black Redstart of the year on the 5th was the highlight, with two Firecrest on 23-24th the only autumn record.

Other sightings included a new site record of 12 Cirl Bunting, a Black-throated Diver on the 1st, two Pomarine Skua on the 7th, a Purple Sandpiper on the 8th, two Woodcock on 24th and the Cetti's Warbler on a couple of occasions.

Purple Sandpiper - Lee Collins

Overhead a very late Common Swift on the 17th was the stand out record, but also moving mid month peaks of 802 Redwing, 148 Chaffinch and 115 Fieldfare; also overhead there were four Mistle Thrush, four Brambling and a Swallow 

December

The year ended quietly with five Avocet on the 15th, the elusive Cetti's Warbler, two Firecrest, a long-staying pair of Coal Tit and the resident Slavonian Grebe.

Cirl Bunting - Alan Keatley

Monday 31st December

Due to the significant erosion at Dawlish Warren, Teignbridge District Council is advising extreme caution when visiting. The dune path between groyne 10 – 18 is unsafe and a section of this path is completely closed with no access. Access to Warren Point and the bird hide is only possible via the beach with the risk of being cut off for a period either side of each high tide. The only access, up and back down, to these areas is along the beach at lower states of tide.

A quiet end to the year with a quick afternoon visit revealing 47 Great-crested Grebe and a Red-throated Diver offshore, with 323 Wigeon, 141 Curlew, 36 Brent Geese, six Greenshank, three Eider, two Goldeneye and the Slavonian Grebe in the estuary.

Many thanks to everyone who has provided records to the Recording Group in 2018. Happy New Year to all and best wishes for 2019.

Sunday 30 December 2018

2018 Wildlife Review: Bees & Wasps

Bees

Winter active Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris saw several queens foraging on Hebe plants by the seawall through January and February, but no workers made it into the New Year and the exceptionally cold weather at the beginning of March halted sightings until the end of the month.

However as the year progressed several more species began to appear with mining bees to the fore, especially on flowering sallows. There were new site records of Ashy Andrena cineraria and Red-girdled Mining Bee A. labiata along with varying numbers of Buffish A. nigroaenea, Chocolate A. scotica, Grey-patched A. nitida, Gwynne’s A. bicolor, Orange-tailed A. haemorrhoa, Sandpit A. barbilabris and Yellow-legged Mining Bee A. flavipes.

Ashy Mining Bee - Alan Keatley

With the Yellow-legged Mining Bees there were several of its cleptoparasite, the Painted Nomad-bee Nomada fucata. A second cuckoo species - Gooden’s Nomad-bee N. goodeniana, found in the Buffer Zone, was a new site record.

Both Coastal Megachile maritima and Silvery Leaf-cutter Megachile leachella were active along the Dune Ridge, the latter with its cleptoparasite - Large Sharp-tailed Bee Coelioxys conoidea, and Furry-claspered Furrow-bee Lasioglossum lativentre were numerous on umbellifers.

Coastal Leafcutter - Alan Keatley

Totally unexpected, and one of the wildlife highlights of the year, was a male Long-horned Bee Eucera longicornis found in the Back Meadow on 7th June, this nationally declining species was another new species for site. Further searches however drew a blank, so this may have sadly just been a vagrant.

Long-horned Bee - Alan Keatley

By mid Summer seven species of bumblebees added to the mix with Heath Bumblebee B. jonellus in the more open areas and Common Carder B. pascorum, Early B. pratorum, Red-tailed B. lapidarius, Tree B. hypnorum and White-tailed B. leucorum in the meadows and bramble scrub. Other species on the wing were Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes and many Green-eyed Flower-bee Anthophora bimaculata.

Heath Bumblebee - Alan Keatley

By the end of September, as other species started to dwindle the first Ivy Bee Colletes hederae appeared, becoming increasingly numerous into October. By then only late Honey bees Apis mellifera and Buff-tailed, Common Carder, Red-tailed Bumblebees were still on the wing.

Ivy Bee - Alan Keatley

The year ended as it started with queen Buff-tailed Bumblebees around on ornamental Hebes.

Wasps

The first Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris queen appeared out of hibernation to start their season at the end of April. This year there were several nests spread throughout the site and both Common and German Wasp V. germanica were numerous and active during the long hot Summer and into the Autumn. Numbers gradually reduced and finally ended with the last flowering ivy in mid December. In contrast Hornet V. crabro remains uncommon on site with but there were again a couple of records.
 
The ichneumon wasp Pimpla rufipes were seen in good numbers and was the most frequently recorded ichneumon from June onwards.

Pimpla rufipes - Alan Keatley

The sand wasp Ammophila sabulosa were noticeable in bare areas of sand along with the less obvious Common Spiny Digger wasp Oxybelus uniglumis, Four-banded Digger wasp Gorytes quadrifasciatus and Field Digger wasp Argogoryles mystaceus.

 
Red-legged Spider wasp Episyron rufipes could be seen actively hunting spiders and dragging them back to their nest, but the Honey bee hunting Beewolf Philanthus triangulum were less common this year.

The most remarkable record though was of a Heath Potter wasp Eumenus coarctatus seen on Warren Point on 18th August, a  totally unexpected occurrence. This species is usually very local to clay soil areas on heathland habitats, to see it on site was a great surprise to say the least.

Heath Potter Wasp - Alan Keatley
 

Sunday 30th December

Due to the significant erosion at Dawlish Warren, Teignbridge District Council is advising extreme caution when visiting. The dune path between groyne 10 – 18 is unsafe and a section of this path is completely closed with no access. Access to Warren Point and the bird hide is only possible via the beach with the risk of being cut off for a period either side of each high tide. The only access, up and back down, to these areas is along the beach at lower states of tide.

Single Pomarine and Great Skua were offshore this morning with 115 Kittiwake and 88 Gannet, on the sea 44 Great-crested Grebe and three Red-throated Diver. The sunshine saw plenty of activity in the bushes with two Firecrest and two Coal Tit with 13 Long-tailed Tit, four Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff.

Wader counts from the estuary included 1070 Dunlin, 990 Oystercatcher, 153 Grey Plover, 107 Redshank, 93 Knot, eight Bar-tailed Godwit, seven Sanderling and six Greenshank. Wildfowl numbers remain low with just 138 Wigeon, 23 Teal, four Shelduck and four Brent Geese; the increased amount of sand across the mudflats and eelgrass may be one of the reasons for this decline, also in the estuary the Slavonian Grebe and an Eider.

Saturday 29 December 2018

2018 Wildlife Review: Plants & Fungi

As has become customary the year started with the annual BSBI New Year plant hunt, this year a record 43 plants were found in flower on 1st January. This compares with 25 in 2017.

This good start to the year didn’t last as very cold and wet weather set in. This delayed the appearance of Sand Crocus. The first of which wasn’t in flower until 5th April, nearly three weeks later than in 2017. 
 
 Sand Crocus - Alan Keatley

As the weather warmed up Upright Chickweed and Shepherd’s Cress could be found in the short dune grassland with three Snake’s-head Fritillary in Greenland Lake and a patch of Mossy Stonecrop near the amusements were good discoveries. The latter doubled the site population, one of only two in Devon.

The first orchid of the year to flower was the Warren's only Green-winged Orchid on 4th May.  By the end of May numbers of Southern Marsh Orchid started to come into flower, followed by seven Bee Orchid near the Dune Pond and 13 Pyramidal Orchid on Warren Point.  Both these species are steadily increasing in number.
 
Bee Orchid - Alan Keatley
 
As Summer progressed great swathes of Marsh Helleborine were in flower by the visitor centre and Greenland Lake producing a spectacular display. In August the late flowering Autumn Lady’s-tresses added to mix, including first record from Warren Point. Both the latter species were also in flower at the same time for the first year ever.

As the hot weather conditions continued, the heat loving Sea Daffodil flowered on Warren Point. Dawlish Warren is only one of three sites nationwide where this rare flower is found. Another dune specialist, Sea Holly could be found at the very end of Warren Point, but in smaller numbers than last year. A large patch was washed away in the previous Autumn storms. Unfortunately this area has suffered again in recent bad weather.

Sea Daffodil
 
As the food plant of Brimstone butterfly the discovery of Alder Buckthorn on site was doubly welcomed, the only other new species added this year was also native, Amphibious Bistort. A single Tomato plant (that produced fruit) and Black Bindweed, both rare on site, were found growing on the dune ridge, probably pumped ashore as part of the Beach recharge.

Fungi
 
Autumn is the time of year for fungi, and the discovery of several Fly Agaric in October was surprisingly the first site record since 1955!

 Fly Agaric - Alan Keatley

Also to be found were the large but less colourful Parasol and Horse Mushroom. Less noticeable, but new for the site were the fungi Melampsora lini - a rust on Fairy Flax and Microbotryum violaceum, the appealingly named Sea Campion Anther Smut.

Parasol Mushroom - Alan Keatley